August 20, 2012 AT 11:03 am

Back to school gadgets for future engineers! #backtoschool

Well, it’s that time again and our wicked summer is coming to an end. But don’t fret, we have a list of super cool gadgets for all you aspiring engineers that will keep your spirits high and your slide rules slidin’.

Apps for engineering: Just when you thought your smartphone couldn’t get more useful.

Mechanical Engineer, part of MultiEducator’s “Formulator” Line, is the perfect tool for any Mechanical Engineer or engineering student. Available for both iPad and iPhone/iPod Touch, our Mechnical Engineer app contains over 300 important mechanical engineering formulas, there are over 300 additional conversion formulas in the program as well as 70 area formulas. Major areas covered in the program now include: Actuators Bearings, Belts, Boiler, Brakes, Clutches, Elevators, Gears,Fluid Power, Heat Transfer,Internal Combustion, Kinetic Energy, Metalworking, Plates, Plumbs, Power Plants, Refrigeration,Shafts Springs and Vehicle Drive.

Tools for engineering: The following are tools that just about everyone should have in their backpack….or as their backpack.

This project includes all the electronic parts necessary to build your own MintyBoost: a small & simple (but very powerful) USB charger for your iPod (or other mp3 player), camera, cell phone, and any other gadget you can plug into a USB port to charge. If you have a Nintendo DS/GBA or a PSP you can buy charger cables from us, too.

You need to charge your cell phone, iPad or Laptop and you don’t have a power outlet or even your charging cable with you … what can you do ? SOLARBAK is a cool, stylish and durable backpack with a detachable solar panel on it that will charge your devices from the SUN !!! SOLARBAK has a powerful new technology solar panel that charges a lithium-ion battery by using sunlight and even indoor light. The battery that comes with SOLARBAK will charge a dead cell phone very quickly as well as tablets, laptops and any portable electronic chargeable devices. SOLARBAK keeps you from being in a situation when you are powerless. Great for kids at school, music festivals, camping, hiking, biking, all kinds of travel as well as many other lifestyle activities. The 2 liter water bladder has a hose that reaches your mouth that can be used to hydrate you at events. SOLARBAK is made and guaranteed by VisionBay in Atlanta, Ga. … SOLARBAK … take YOUR POWER with you. Lithium-ion battery included.

This cute pocket oscilloscope is a perfect companion to your tool box. For beginners, its a good starter scope – it is not as complicated as a benchtop scope so its easy to use. For advanced EE’s, its useful as a scope-on-the-go, for field-debugging, when you don’t want to drag your scope over, or when a floating-ground is needed (it will naturally do ‘differential’ measurements as long as its not plugged into a computer USB port). It’s not a terribly fast scope, best used for signals up to 100KHz, and it is only a single channel, but we still find uses for it all the time, especially with analog projects!

Portage for your Projects! Lady Ada’s Bento Box is a crush-proof, drop-proof & water-proof prototyping kit that combines the ultra-rugged Otterbox 3000 with a storage tin and half-size (400-point) breadboard. In the middle is a spot for attaching an Arduino UNO (or any other PCB that has the same shape and mounting holes). There’s plenty of clearance for wires (even ones with plastic bits on the end such as our premium jumper wires or wire bundles) and parts on the breadboard, and the box is so sturdy you never have to worry about any delicate parts inside getting damaged. Toss it in your backpack, suitcase, duffel bag and you can be sure to work on it when you get to school, work or home.

Interfacing a new microchip can be a hassle. Breadboarding a circuit, writing code, hauling out the programmer, or maybe even prototyping a PCB. We never seem to get it right on the first try.

The ‘Bus Pirate’ is a universal bus interface that talks to most chips from a PC serial terminal, eliminating a ton of early prototyping effort when working with new or unknown chips. Many serial protocols are supported at 0-5.5volts, more can be added.

21st Century note taking: Below are some cutting edge note-taking (or not-note-taking) devices. I happen to be quite fond of my LiveScribe pen, as it has quickly taken the place of my tablet-pc and quad ruled notebooks.

Nexus 7 is a no compromise Android tablet that’s designed to go wherever you go. With a stunning 7” display, powerful quad-core processor and up to 8 hours of battery life during active use, Nexus 7 was built to bring you the best of Google in a slim, portable package that fits perfectly in your hand.

The Boogie Board Rip™ LCD Writing Tablet combines an exceptional, paper-like writing experience with the ability to record your written and drawn images and save them as files. Then connect to a computer and transfer files for editing, organizing, archiving and/or sharing!

Take the stress out of tests and meetings with an Echo™ smartpen from Livescribe. Record everything you hear, say and write, while linking your audio recordings to your notes. Quickly replay audio from your Livescribe paper, a computer, or a mobile device – all with a simple tap on your handwritten notes. It’s never been easier to take notes and stay organized.

The best notebook on earth, The Maker’s Notebook. From the creators of Make Magazine comes the Maker’s Notebook. Put your own ideas, diagrams, calculations & notes down in these 150 pages of engineering graph paper. We’ve also included 20 bonus pages of reference material, from useful stuff like electronics symbols, resistor codes, weights and measures, basic conversions and more, to really useful stuff like the amount of caffeine in different caffeinated beverages and how to say “Hello, World!” in various computer languages. The covers of this hardcover book are printed in cyan “Maker” blue with a white grid debossed front and back. Grab one today!

I hope everyone has had a great summer and good luck with this upcoming school year!

"The first 90 percent of the code accounts for the first 90 percent of the development time. The remaining 10 percent of the code accounts for the other 90 percent of the development time" - Tom Cargill